95
lake baikal »
SIBERIA, RUSSIA
The sublimely beautiful Lake Baikal
in southeast Siberia is a place of
superlatives: It is the world’s oldest
(25 million years) and deepest (5,387
ft/1,642 m) lake. It is also one of the
largest (12,248 sq mi/31,722 sq km)
and contains an estimated 20 percent
of the world’s free-flowing fresh
water. It has more than 1,000 plant
and 1,500 animal species, 80 percent
of them endemic.
A fisherman hauls nets on a horse-
drawn sleigh over frozen Lake Baikal.
94
simien
national park
ETHIOPIA
It has been called Africa’s Grand Can-
yon: a high and undulating plateau in
Ethiopia’s Simien Mountains that over
millions of years has been massively
eroded to form vast gorges, dizzying
precipices, jagged peaks, and gigantic
canyons that in places are 5,000 feet
(1,500 m) deep.The Simien Mountains in northern
Ethiopia, Africa’s “Grand Canyon,” is
also a World Heritage site.96
socotra
YEMEN
Socotra, 220 miles (355 km) from the
Yemen mainland, is among the world’s
most important centers of biodiversity,
combining elements of Africa, Asia,
and Europe in one tiny four-island
archipelago. Its plants and animals
have adapted to a range of landscapes,
from the hot dry lowlands to the mist-
shrouded granite peaks of the Hajhir
Mountains at the islands’ heart.The strange dragon’s blood tree is a
feature of the Socotra archipelago.«
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